


A Flutter

by sunnilee



Series: blue lions: for the (medical) record [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Medicine AU, blue lions - Freeform, incoming medical jargon, minor netteflix and dimileth, really living my best life, this is the result of staring down my EKG book while working on OBGYN questions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24496312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnilee/pseuds/sunnilee
Summary: Tutoring sessions run late, but Ingrid can still fluster Sylvain from afar.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: blue lions: for the (medical) record [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769470
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40
Collections: Sylvgrid week 2020





	A Flutter

**Author's Note:**

> happy sylvgrid week, day 2: jealousy/dance!
> 
> (medical jargon definitions in the end notes)

If Sylvain is honest with himself, he’s a bit jealous watching Ingrid teach Ashe how to tie a surgeon’s knot with lightning speed and efficiency two tables over, her nimble fingers flying through each throw and locking the knot down. He, on the other hand, is stuck at a table with Annette and Felix _and_ their not-so-obvious-but-completely-obvious attempts at flirting, as they pore over the open book of _Rapid Interpretation of EKG’s_.

Supposedly, he was there to help them practice and get better at reading EKGs… but watching Annette shove Felix away with a blush high on her cheeks for the _fifth_ time that night because his smirking face was too close, Sylvain wasn’t exactly sure if _EKGs_ were what he should be helping them with.

He sighs, leaning back in his chair, his eyes guiltily wandering over to Ingrid and Dr. Charon’s surgical skills table. _Maybe he should’ve done surgery like the rest of his friends…_

“Ugh, this doesn’t make any sense! How am I even supposed to calculate axis deviations?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping us, Sylvain?”

He blinks at his name and shifts his attention back to the two disasters sitting with him, or rather, back to the practice EKG printout shoved in his face. Taking the sheet, he smooths it out on the table and runs an exasperated hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I was letting you two sort out your differences. Did you finally decide on a wedding date?”

“ _Sylvain!”_

_“You—”_

Sylvain didn’t need to look up to know his two friends were sporting matching red-faces… and perhaps brandishing their pens, ready to stab him. He puts his hands up placatingly. “Easy, easy now… axis deviation, huh?”

His eyes skim over the EKG in front of him. “Axis is deviated to the left.”

Annette snatches the sheet away from him and glaring at it. “How could you tell by just looking at it? It’s taken me _hours_ and I _still_ don’t understand how to calculate—”

“You don’t have to.”

Annette’s glare is redirected at him and even Felix looks frustrated with him… more so than usual. _Though there’s no doubt Felix would rather be over at the surgery table too. It’s cute that he’s followed Annette over here._

Annette’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “Explain.”

Sylvain’s hands fist into two thumbs up and he lifts his left a little higher. “This, is lead I.” He shakes his right hand. “This, is lead aVF.”

His chin gestures at the sheet in front of them. “Now, match it up with the EKG you see. If both are pointing up, there’s no axis deviation. In that example, Lead aVF is deflected downward,” his right thumb turns down, “and lead I has a normal upward deflection.” His left thumb stays up.

“Now, you groove in the direction of whichever thumb is still pointing up,” he dances to the left in his seat, smiling at Annette’s dropped jaw, “and that’s your axis deviation! Quick and easy way to determine the axis at a glance without the math.”

To his _complete_ and _utter_ surprise, Felix laughs and suddenly, Sylvain feels his jaw drop to match Annette’s. He watches his childhood friend nudge the shell-shocked girl beside him and smirks. “Look, Sylvain already has the dance part down for you, all you have to do now is make the song to go with it—”

Annette shoots straight up from her chair, face flaming. “ _Stop it, Felix!_ You’re a _villain_!”

With that, she storms out of the room and Felix has the dopiest, lovesick expression on his face that Sylvain can’t help but snicker. _That_ brings the _regular_ Felix back, along with his usual scowl. “What?”

Still shaking with laughter, Sylvain waves his hands and gathers the EKGs scattered across the table. “Nothing, nothing. You can stop pretending you need my help and go join Ingrid at Dr. Charon’s table. We both know that’s where you’re itching to be anyway.”

Felix scoffs, “whatever. I’ll see you back at the apartment.”

As expected, Sylvain watches him join the surgery table, just in time for suturing skills. Ingrid looks up and catches his eye, giving him a quick wave and smile, before her hands fly to correct how Ashe holds his forceps.

Sylvain grimaces at the twisting in his chest. _Jealousy is_ not _a good look for him._ He sighs and packs up the rest of his notebooks, heading home for the night. Tutoring sessions were always hit or miss now, with students balancing their free time and their coursework, along with their clinical duties.

Teaching cardiology was always shorter than practicing technical skills, so Sylvain was usually finished before Ingrid and Felix. Dimitri was off doing some kind of research project with Byleth, their senior interested in cardiothoracic surgery, and Sylvain _definitely_ did not need to hear anything about that.

He could’ve gone after surgery, like the rest of his friends, like his father… And he was originally going to, despite all the jokes he made about becoming a _love_ doctor back in first year.

But then they _actually_ got to cardiology and something about the way the heart worked just _made sense_ to him. It’s a pump and it obeys the laws of physics.

In that way, it’s predictable _._ It’s _comforting_.

And even with all that predictability, there are still conditions like Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. _Broken Heart Syndrome._

He smiles wryly at the thought. _Not spending enough time with his girlfriend doesn’t count as severe emotional stress, no matter how much chest pain he has._ Sylvain lands backwards on his bed with a huff, slinging an arm over his eyes. Then, his phone buzzes.

_Ingrid sent an attachment._

Sylvain unlocks his phone and opens the attachment, confusion mounting further. He sends a quick message back.

_Sylvain: ?? Ingrid?_

A reply pops up shortly.

_Ingrid: what_

_Sylvain: you sent me an EKG?_

_Ingrid: I did. Read it for me._

Sylvain sits up, brow creasing.

_Sylvain: it’s classic sawtooth pattern, Ing. I know you know this one, why’d you send it?_

_Ingrid: because it’s my EKG. You send my heart a-flutter._

His phone slips out of his slackened grip, thudding to the floor. His breaths come in short gasps and his hands fly up to cover his burning face, and he _screams_.

His heart fluttering in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> EKG: An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) records the electrical signal from your heart to check for different heart conditions. Electrodes are placed on your chest to record your heart's electrical signals, which cause your heart to beat. The signals are shown as waves on an attached computer monitor or printer
> 
> Atrial Flutter (a-flutter): Atrial flutter is a type of heart rhythm disorder in which the heart's upper chambers (atria) beat too quickly. In atrial flutter, your heart's upper chambers (atria) beat too quickly. This causes the heart to beat in a fast, regular rhythm. Identified on EKG by classic saw-tooth pattern p-waves.
> 
> (thank u mayoclinic)
> 
> Also Annette's reaction to Sylvain's axis deviation trick was literally me when my attending taught it during pre-clinical years.
> 
> To this day, I still don't know how to calculate axis properly, but I d o know how to dance.


End file.
